Sunday, March 16, 2008

Ryan Hunn re:Discovery

In the latest issue of Wax Poetics Manchester's own young jazz maverick Ryan Hunn gives us an insight into a lost discovery that he unearthed while working for the Northern Quarter's diggers favourite, Vox Pop a few years ago.

The record in question is Casual-T 'Hands Off', which I have on this release that came out a few years back. I've looked for the original on occasion and it has been known to fetch some serious coin, so I'll be playing it off the comp for a few more years to come.

This is what Ryan had to say about it, "When I used to work in a certain secondhand record store in Manchester, England, there was this Jamaican guy who'd come in and sell us some of the most insane reggae and dub records. This guy would sell 45s for about a pound each (just shy of two bucks), 12-inches for not much more, and would only ever sell things he had spare copies of. I came into work one day, and there was a stack of stuff that had been bought from this guy. Halfway through listening to this pile there was a boogie record on the well-known reggae imprint, 56 Hope Road. I'll never forget the feeling of hearing the first few bars of that record. I mean, hearing new boogie records is fairly common but hearing one like this isn't. Maybe it was because I was expecting to hear a crackly roots riddim from this 45 that it had such an effect on me: an overwhelming sense of, "Wow." Or maybe, just maybe, it was because I was playing the "Version" side by mistake, where the vocals only come in on the chorus, and the whole rhythm track. apart from the vocals and claps, drops out randomly, dub style. I was so excited that I went home and did my research. The vocal side (which is nowhere near as good in my opinion) was included on a compilation called Disc "O" Lypso a few years back but was all I could find. It turns out that Casual-T did in fact do one album entitled Prescriptions of Love which came out on the Rita Marley/Tuff Gong label in 1983, but again, only the vocal side feature, not the version. It also fetches serious money when you can find one for sale. God bless the two-buck-45s guy."

Isn't it a bitch when you think that you have the definitive version of a cut and it turns out that you don't and if you want the version you're going to have to either have a very understanding bank manager or a few nights on the naughty step.

On March 29th Ryan, Jonny and the rest of the Sketch City mob will be hosting the second Hoya:Hoya night at the Music Box in Manchester and this time they've got Michigan's finest James T. Cotton (aka Dabrye) and Todd Osborn who together produce occasional records as TNT and individually record for the likes of Ghostly International, Spectral Sounds and more. In the backroom they are hosting Toddla T who is a new name to me but a quick investigation tells me that he has done remixes for Lex, BMG and Sony. Looks like it is going to be an absolutely cracking night. 7/8 sheets gets your ass on the 'floor.

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About Me

I'm a Cape Town boy who has been around the world and back and still hasn't found a place that I truly want to settle. I've written for numerous publications about all sorts of elements of popular culture. I'm a recordhound constantly on the search for "the perfect beat" and have come close a few times. I have far too many pairs of shoes and not enough pairs of pants unfortunately.
If you own any of these tracks and want me to remove them or you just want to get in contact for whatever reason then e-mail me at marc.kets[at]kumo-music.com.